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Trauma history as a predictor of psychologic symptoms in women with breast cancer
B L Green1, J L Krupnick, J H Rowland
1Department of Psychiatry, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA. greenb@gunet.georgetown.edu
Purpose:
To identify predictors of psychiatric problems in women with early-stage breast cancer.
Patients And Methods:
One hundred sixty women with early-stage breast cancer were recruited from three treatment centers. They filled out self-report questionnaires, including a medical history and demographic survey, the Trauma History Questionnaire, Life Event Questionnaire, Brief Symptom Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, and Duke-UNC Functional Social Support Questionnaire, and were evaluated using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R.
Results:
Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that four of five variable sets made a significant incremental contribution to outcome prediction, with 35% to 37% of the variance explained. Outcomes were predicted by demographic variables, trauma history variables, precancer psychiatric diagnosis, recent life events, and perceived social support. Cancer treatment variables did not predict outcome.
Conclusion:
The findings highlight the important roles of trauma history and recent life events in adjustment to cancer and have implications for screening and treatment.